For all those seeking a single place to learn the results of this years TalkBoard elections, this is it.

The winners in this years TalkBoard elections for the five positions open for the 2005/2006 year have been duly elected:
1. gleff w/ 1223 votes
2. ozstamps w/ 979 votes
3. missydarlin w/ 837 votes
4. Cholula w/ 824 votes

Well, OK, at least four of them have been elected. Because of the very last two ballots cast last night (GUWonder at two minutes to midnight and JOUY31 right at midnight) there is a three-way tie for the fifth and final spot on the TalkBoard. Upon discussion and vote, the current TalkBoard has decided on a run-off to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 2 to run for seven days to determine the fifth spot as well as the order for the next two runner-ups to fulfill any open positions that may occur. Originally bhatnasx withdrew the run-off to continue supporting FlyerTalk via his role as a moderator but has reentered the run-off at the very last second (and seconds it was...)

The candidates for the run off are:
bhatnasx w/ 656 votes
doc w/ 656 votes
ScottC w/ 656 votes

THE RUN-OFF RESULTS:
ScottC w/ 2,512 votes
doc w/ 2,256 votes
bhatnasx w/ 2,111 votes

Welcome back ScottC to another term on the TalkBoard. For doc and bhatnasx: thank you both for your contributions to the dialog in this years elections and for the "new faces" among our candidates. I think on behalf of our members we certainly would welcome you and all the others back next year when we have 4 additional seats to fill.

A Note: by action of the TalkBoard, doc is now the first member in line to fill a vacant seat should any current member of the Board be unable to fulfill his elected term, followed by bhatnasx. Again a hearty congrats to all.


For those of you who enjoy the dark secrets of an election, did you know:
- The top candidate this year received about 45% more votes than the top candidate in last years elections.

- Eight candidates voted only for themselves, no one else.

- Five candidates did not vote in this years elections.

- Among those candidates that did vote, one candidate did not vote for himself, yet he did vote for five others.

- This years elections resulted in the first tie among the open positions.

- A total of 2,762 ballots were cast.

- There were 34 candidates.

- One candidate withdrew before the voting began citing the excellent level of candidates and another withdrew during the voting.

- And one candidate was not active in campaigning because he was busy helping a friend recover from the effects of the recent hurricanes here in the U.S.

OK, now for those of you who need to see just how much your vote counted or if you are going to win a bet because of the number of votes a particular member received, here's the final tally:
gleff
1223

ozstamps
979

missydarlin
837

Cholula
824

bhatnasx
656

doc
656

ScottC
656

FewMiles
630

kokonutz
554

Shareholder
514

VPescado
468

peteropny
440

stimpy
364

Markie
328

socrates
298

parnel
198

Marathon Man
196

John C
145

nsx
140

Radioman
122

CameraGuy
112

civicmon
92

Alston
89

HNL
84

NOLAnwGOLD
76

~Matthew~
64

vivrant
38

Buzzard533
36

xmlsoa
25

rothsteg
25

fredman
23

mbstone
20

RamAir
20

gaz_zman
18

P.S. Thank you all for exercising your privilege to vote, see you all in just another day or so...

Hey Randy, just an idea here... @:-)

Why don't you just appoint both Scott and doc to the TalkBoard. They both got the same approval from the FT membership and another member for your Advisory Board surely couldn't hurt, right?

Since the runoff election has already been announced, and since bhatnasx stepped aside, for that reason, I think the matter is probably moot.

HEY! You're not Randy!

Actually, I thought about the situation of batsnacks withdrawing his name from voting in the runoff and the fairness of that situation. My opinion on the matter is "oh well". He gave up his option of running and understood that he wouldn't not be elected to the TB. It's a rough decision, but it's his choice... and loss.

i don't have anything to do with the Board these days. I don't vote on issues, i rarely participate in discussions, i don't use any veto powers. For those of you who haven't kept up with the changes, the TalkBoard has operated on its own for some time now. And while some of the items that have been taken on and put into play are things i would not have done, i'm a member who voted for candidates and hope that those elected pursue the right path for FlyerTalk.

At this stage, i really do not have the power to do what you have suggested. Advisory Board? I haven't made any decision for FT in some time other than introduce FlyerTalk Premium and that was really an admin role. I'd say that a bit longer than six months ago the current board really started to get the hang of what i have been saying for some time and moved forward with their own agenda regardless of who and what i do. This has been the most important change in the history of FT in that the group gets that they set direction and are responsible for what works and doesn't. There is only a single topic in which I am active with the TalkBoard and that is I represent the interest of of volunteer moderator group. This single topic is not the domain of the Talkboard, past, present and future. It's much like the judicial and executive branches of our government being separate as well. That's really the only item that i am involved with.

For instance, today there were some items i would have done different with the results of the elections but it's just a matter of style. The Board voted something and i was more than glad to assist them make it happen.

Its come a long way from the Advisory Board days and I personally could not be more pleased. As for ScottC and doc, may the best candidate represent us all.

Please exercise your privilege to vote.

Thanks Randy for your explanation!

Who says FlyerTalkers are not an astute crowd?

Mathematically, using some or just one of your allowable votes is the best way to ensure a candidate you really want will get in. Casting a single vote in a multi-candidate election is also known as "bullet voting."

Wouldn't you hate to have your fourth or "I don't care" fifth vote be the one that pushes out your favorite first choice? I didn't use all five of my votes, either.
If it was good enough for the Founding Fathers, it's good enough for FlyerTalk, your honor!

Congratulations to all the winners AND all the candidates! It was a great campaign season with some excellent debate and tons of really, really interesting and educational arguments and perspectives.

While I personally went into the process with tounge firmly in cheek, the entire process reminded me why I do actually care about this little corner of the Internet. I do hope that the new TB well in addressing the issues on which you ran!

Good luck representing our needs and redressing our grievences!

Unfortunately, two members of the TalkBoard from outside the U.S. can't relate to that separation of powers and it's everything i can do to use it as a positive example. May i call you as a character witness (as opposed to being a character....HA!) if the situation calls for it? And i know you meant to say "If it was good enough for the Founding Father (Randy), it's good enough for FlyerTalk, your honor!"

Don't forget to vote in the run-off, there's a 20,000-mile/point bonus being offered to one lucky member.

So, "batsnacks" (sorry, Samir) is in the runoff after all?

Yes, he is once again.

....and I see that the runoff voting has actually already commenced. ^

So I went and voted.

Looking forward to my 20,000 points/miles. We all get that, right? (Just kidding. Now that I've said that, I'll probably be disqualified from winning it! )

Actually, two members of the TalkBoard from outside the U.S. realize that it is the Legislature that makes the laws, including those pertaining to how the Executive and Judiciary must behave. The Executive enforces the laws established by the Legislature and the Judiciary insures that the Executive does so fairly.

That is true separation of powers.

In this case, it would mean that the TalkBoard would establish both the TOS (which everyone must obey) and the operating procedures for the moderators (who, as the police, are part of the Executive). Randy, as the Supreme Court, would have the right to decide if a particular law established by the TalkBoard was unconstitutional and, if it was not, to make certain that the moderators are enforcing that law fairly.

As it currently stands, moderators are establishing both the TOS and, even more importantly, their own operating procedures. They refuse to have any Legislative review of their practices and the Judiciary, which is extremely (and understandably) very busy with other duties, very rarely has the time to provide a timely appeals process.

The moderators, therefore, are:

1. Acting as the Legislature in establishing laws and procedures.
2. Acting as the Executive in enforcing these laws.
3. Acting as the Judiciary (in most cases) in providing the only appeals process.

Beautiful PolSci discussion about separation of powers and such...

However, the 2,762/81,808 participation rate doesn't look very massive to allow even thinking about "powers", let alone being concerned for their separate roles...I am pretty sure that, in their overwhelming majority, those 81,808 don't even know what the TB is, and that's -sadly- exactly where the previous TB failed. Unless, it doesn't matter. In that case, I won't bother to vote next year either...

Anyway, congrats to all the candidates.

Congrats to ALL the candidates!

And can we leave it at that - do we really have to bring another moderator discussion into something as simple as a congrat thread? Geesh already. Save it for another thread or forum or whatever - leave this one pure.

We know the candidates - we know the run-off candidates - enough...vote.

Cheers. Sharon